The Mountain Moon Coffeehouse in Wheeling, WV, has a great concert series on tap for the 2000 season, including Tracy Schwarz & Ginny Hawker, Jan. 15; Bob Heyer & John Lilly Feb. 5; Peachs Little Band March 4; Cabin Fever String Band July 15; and the Monongohela Sheiks Aug. 19. Info: Stiffel Fine Arts Center, 304-242-7700.

Riverside Park in Madrid, NY was the site in September of the 24th Annual Autumn Fiddle Festival sponsored by the North Country Fiddlers. Info: www.fiddlers.org

The 1999 Berea (KY) Christmas Country Dance School will be held from Dec. 26-Jan. 1 at Berea College. Various kinds of American and European dance, music, singing and crafts will be taught and there will be special classes for callers and school teachers. Info: 606-986-9341 ext. 5565.

There will be a dance and concert on Dec. 11 by Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers, sponsored by the Charlotte (NC) Dance Gypsies and Charlotte Folk Society. Info: 704-364-5433.

Artists & Agents

David Holts performing schedule will find him mostly in the East through the end of the year, including the Birmingham, AL Library, Nov. 4-6; the Western NC Arts Council, Nov. 8-10, and a storytelling festival in Homestead, FL, Dec. 3-5.

Paul & Win Grace are busy as usual in the Midwest. Paul plays with Howard Rusty Marshall on Nov. 5 in a house concert in the Chicago area and on the 6th at Heartland Studio Theatre in Chicago. Win is Artistic Director of First Night Columbia (MO) and will be heavily involved in the years end celebration. Info: pgrace@mail.coin.missouri.edu.

Harold Hausenfluck, the well-known VA fiddler and host of Good Ol Mountain Music on WBRF in Galax, has suffered a major stroke and is undergoing rehabilitation at Health South in Richmond. Anne Donley reports that Harold is making some progress toward movement, but that his entire left side is affected although his speech and thinking are not. For more information, email Anne at donley3@erols.com. (Also, thanks to Susan Gleason for info.)

Clarke Buehling has recently returned from a successful one-man tour of England, having performed at the Reading Banjo and Fiddle Festival and a number of other venues. Clarke and co-conspirator Joel Zemmer have put together a booklet of minstrel-period banjo tablatures which they hope to expand and publish as a book eventually.

In Print, In School & On The Net

The Bristol(VA) Herald Courier recently (July 9) ran a piece concerning the contest for a new state song to replace Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. While there was no detailed information about the other choices, their favorite was A. P. Carters Longing for Old Virginia, which should not be a stranger to this readership. If you (too) think this is a good idea, access the contest Web site at www.vipnet.org/song/song.html and lobby the committee members.

Noted country music historian and writer, Dr. Charles Wolfe is a regular contributor now on www.country.com. Charles is writing a column, Vintage Country, in which he reviews country reissues of all kinds. Go to country.com and hit MUSIC, then hit NEWS. Charless logo is an old Victor Talking Machine.

Recordings, Instruments & Labels

Bob Heyer has a new CD out called Close to the Heart. Info: 501 National Road, Wheeling, WV 26003 or email at bheyer@ovis.net.

Tony and Gary Williamson have a new recording out called Let Us Cross Over the River. Info: www.mandolincentral.com/rec.

The latest Copper Creek flyer notes the release of a couple of items of more than passing interest, namely the new Ginny Hawker/Kay Justice CD, A Tribute to the Music of the Carter Family, and a Stanley Brothers live home recording, Old-Time Songs, with Ralph Mayo and Curly Lambert from 1956.

Organizations

If youre anywhere near the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (NC) area, you should be aware of PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music. Over the course of any given year, they sponsor an absolutely amazing array of activities, including concerts, dances and jams, from every tradition you could think of. Info: PO Box 28534, Raleigh, NC 27611, 919-664-8333, www.pinecone.org.

The Charlotte (NC) Folk Society sponsors and encourages a wide range of concerts, dances, jams, etc. in their area. To get their monthly calendar/newsletter, write CFS at PO Box 36864, Charlotte, NC 28236-6864.

We got a new (to us) newsletter from the Mid-Columbia Folklore Society in Oregon a while back, and it looks like they do a lot of old-time music and dancing. If youre out in their area, contact them at PO Box 1623, Hood River, OR 97031; 541-352-7550; members.aol.com/mcfs.

The Down East Folk Arts Society has kicked off another season of concerts and dances in eastern North Carolina. Info: PO Box 3489, Morehead City, NC 28557 or www.clis.com/folkarts/.

The Southern Arts Federation has announced that it is awarding over $285,000 to southern communities for performances in music, dance, theater, opera, and musical theater for the current season.

Sessions & Jams

With this issue, we are inaugurating a listing of sessions and jams separate from the Events section. We will not publish every jam in every issue, but we encourage you to let us know about existing venues as well as new ones, since I dont keep a file of such things.J.C.

Zeke Morris, guitar-playing half of the Morris Brothers and old-time country music legend, died on Aug. 5 in Black Mtn., NC. In addition to his work with brother Wiley, he also performed with both Wade and J.E. Mainer, Pappy Sherrill and Steve Ledford. In 1940, Zeke and Wiley gave Earl Scruggs one of his first professional playing jobs.

Alice Colvin Clemens, 76, old-time fiddler and co-founder of the New York State Old-Time Fiddlers Association, died on Aug. 19 in Osceola, NY. A member of the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame, she began playing as a child and won the NY State Ladies Championship three years in a row. She also helped found the annual Fiddlers Picnic in Osceola, and taught, lectured and wrote about fiddling for many years throughout the Northeast. (Thanks to Bill Knowlton for help with this.)

John Currie is a musician and singer who lives in Jacksonville, NC. He plays fiddle with The Floyd Pond Ramblers.